Railroad ruling pen



March 29, 1949. L.. R. HALSTEADl 2,465,869

RAILROAD-BULING PEN Filed oct. 1a, 194s IN V EN TOR.'

Patented Mar. 29, 1949 RAILROAD RULlNG PEN Laban Richard Halstead, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Eugene Dietzgen C9., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application October 18, 1943, Serial No. 506,694

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a ruling pen and more t' particularly to a ruling pen of the type known as a railroad pen, which is adapted to rule parallel lines.

An object of this invention is to provide novel,

simple, durable and efiicient adjustable means` for ruling parallel lines. Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved method of manufacturing such means.

It has been customary in the manufacture of ruling pens of the type known as railroad pen to form the nibs, connecting spring and stud integrally from a single bar or block of metal. This practice is wasteful of labor and material, necessitating as it does excessive milling of a relatively large bar of metal, much of which cannot be used.

According to the present invention the nibs, connecting spring and stud are made separately, assembled and secured together. 'I'his not only` permits appreciable saving of material but greatly simplifies the steps of manufacture with resulting saving of labor and cost of material.

Other objects of the invention include the provision of a railroad pen of new and improved con- 5325 struction including a novel spring construction for connecting the nibs of the pen. Additional objects, advantages and capabilities inherent in the invention will become readily apparent from the description thereof which follows. .c

the invention, it is to be understood that the f same are susceptible of modification and change without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a selected embodiment of the invention, and the views therein are as follows:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a railroad pen embodying the invention, with handle in place;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the pen shown in Fig. 1, looking to the left in that figure, with handle removed;

Fig. 3 is a detail plan view of a portion of the device shown in Fig. 1 in a preliminary stage;

Fig. 4 is a detail side elevation of the portion of the device shown in Fig. 3 in a later stage;

Fig. 5 is a detail side elevation of another portion of the device shown in Fig. 1.

The particular device herein disclosed for the purpose of illustrating the invention comprises a railroad ruling pen, indicated generally by the numeral I I. The pen II comprises opposed nibs I2, each of which is separately adjustable by means of an adjusting head I3 which is secured on a threaded member I4 adjacent one end thereof. The member I4 is slidably received in a bore I5 provided in the spring portion I6 of a nib I2 and has its other end portion received in a threaded bore Il in the opposed portion Iii-ar of the nib.

The nibs I2 are arranged in adjustable spaced relation with each other by means of an adjusting piece I8 threaded on a threaded member I9 intermediate opposite ends thereof. The member I9 has one of its ends xedly mounted in a bore 20 provided in the butt portion 2l of one nib I2 and its other end portion freely slidable in a bore 20 provided in the butt portion 2| of another nib I2. The adjusting piece I8 is positioned intermediate the nibs.

'I'he butt end of each of the nibs I2 is provided with a slot 22 (Fig. 5) extending in the direction of operation of the nib. The slots 22 are arranged snugly to receive corresponding end portions 23, respectively, of a generally U-shaped spring member 24, the corresponding parts being welded or otherwise suitably secured together. The spring member 24 acts normally to converge the nibs I2. Upon turning the piece I8 in a direction removing it from the iixed end of the member I9I a face of the piece I8 will abut an adjacent portion of a part IB-a of a nib I2 and force the spring member 24 to flex and the nibs to separate. Upon turning the piece I9 in the opposite direction the nibs will be drawn closer together.

The spring member 24 is provided with a central opening 25 in which is secured an end portion 21 of a threaded stud 26. The threaded stud 2B is adapted to be received in a correspondingly threaded portion of a ferrule 28 of a handle 29 for manipulating the pen. The spring mem- 'ber 24 is also provided with spaced cut away portions 30 in opposite edges of its leg portions 3|. The cutting away of the portions 30 weakens the legs 3| in the intermediate portions 32 so that upon adjustment of the spaced relation of the nibs I2 and the end portions 23 flexing of the member 24 will tend to occur primarily in the portions 32 intermediate the cut away portions 30. The cut away portions 30 are preferably spaced a substantial distance from the hips 33 of the member 24 so that exing of the legs 3|' upon adjustment of the position of the nibs I2 relative to each other will occur in a portion of the legs relatively removed from the hips 33 and thus avoid excessive strain upon and resultant cracking or breaking in those portions of the member 24.

The spring member 24 is preferably made of a generally rectangular strip 35 of high carbon steel (Fig. 3) cut to predetermined size from a sheet of such material. The cut away portions 30 and the central opening 25 may be formed in a single stamping operation. The strip 35 is then bent to the generally U-shaped form with opposite end portions 23 converging as shown in Fig. 4. A threaded stud 26 provided with a reduced end portion 21 is secured to the bent strip 35, the reduced end portion 2l being inserted through the opening 25 and peened at its outer end 34. The member 24 is subsequently heat treated to harden the metal and give the member the desired resilience. Thereafter the end portions 23 are inserted in the corresponding slots 22 of the nibs l2, respectively, and welded or otherwise suitably secured therein. The assembled pen is then subjected to a nishing operation including polishing of the surfaces of the parts.

The manufacture of the pen in the manner stated involves a considerable saving of labor and material in comparison with the practice hitherto followed of -cutting the nibs and connecting spring as a unit from a single bar of material.

Changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without de parting from the spirit of the invention, and the right is hereby reserved to make all such changes as fairly fall within the scope of the following claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

l. A ruling pen comprising a pen carrying member formed from a flat strip of spring material and providing a pair of spaced adjacent arms having integrally interconnected ends forming a handle mounting portion with a central opening, a stud having an end secured in said opening and a threaded body portion extending from said mounting portion on the side thereof remote from said arms, a handle comprising a stem having a threaded end cavity threadingly receiving the body of said stud to secure the stem on said pen carrying member, a pair of pen elements each having a marking end and a butt end formed with a slot, the free ends of said arms extending into and being secured each in the Slot of one of said pen elements whereby the elements are mounted each on a corresponding arm and supported in adjacent spaced relationship, said arms having portions of reduced width intermediate the interconnected and free ends thereof to increase flexibility of the arms at said portions of reduced width, and screw threaded adjusting means mounted on and extending between the butt ends of said pen elements, lsaid adjusting means being manually operable to determine the spacing of said pen elements.

2. A ruling pen comprising a pen carrying member formed from a flat strip of spring material and providing a pair of spaced-apart adjacent arms having integrally interconnected ends forming a handle mounting portion, means to secure a handle on said pen carrying member at said mounting portion, a pair of pen elements each having a marking end and a butt end formed with a slot, the free ends of said arms, remote from said mounting portion, extending into and being secured each in the slot of one of said pen elements whereby the elements are mounted each on a corresponding arm and supported in adjacent spaced relationship, said arms having portions of reduced width intermediate the interconnected and free ends thereof to increase exibility of the arms at said portions of reduced width, and screw-threaded adjusting means mounted on and extending between the butt ends of said pen elements, said adjusting means being manually operable to determine the spacing of said pen elements.

8. A ruling pen comprising a pen carrying member formed from a flat strip of spring material and providing a pair of spaced-apart adjacent arms having integrally interconnected ends forming a handle mounting portion, means to secure a handle on said pen carrying member at said mounting portion, a pair of pen elements each having a marking end and a butt end, means for securing the butt ends of said elements each to the free end of a corresponding arm, whereby said elements are supported in adjacent spaced relationship, said arms having portions of reduced width intermediate the interconnected and free ends thereof to increase flexibility of the arms at said portions of reduced width, and

screw threaded adjusting means mounted on and extending between the butt ends of said pen elements, said adjusting means being manually operable to determine the spacing of said pen elements.

LABAN RICHARD HALSTEAD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 35,841 Germany June '7, 1886 38,113- Germany Jan. 4, 1887 62,604 Switzerland Nov. 9, 1912 135,547 Germany Nov. 20, 1902 246,081 Great Britain Jan. 21, 1926 

